Comparing Stocks in the Nuclear Energy Sector: NuScale Power versus Oklo
In the race to power the growing energy-intensive AI and data center markets, NuScale Power is making significant strides. With its commercial readiness, regulatory approvals, and existing customer interest, NuScale is poised for growth in this sector.
NuScale's small modular reactors (SMRs) have been approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) since 2020, enabling the company to start construction and deployment immediately. This approval is crucial, given the complexity and length of the NRC process.
The company is already generating revenue and engaging with major industries, including AI data centers and hyperscale operators. One such project, RoPower in Romania, is reporting significant revenue growth. This real-world deployment underpins NuScale's readiness to supply clean power to these energy-intensive markets.
NuScale targets multiple large industries, including data centers, AI operations, hydrogen production, and water desalination, with validated demand and customer interest. The company is currently in active discussions with five hyperscale data center operators in the U.S. for potential domestic data center contracts.
In contrast, Oklo, while promising, is still in an earlier development stage. The company has no operational plants or revenue as of early 2025. Oklo's first Aurora microreactor is projected for operational status around late 2027 to early 2028, representing a longer timeline to market impact.
Oklo's microreactors run on metallic uranium fuel pellets, which are denser, more thermal resistant, and cheaper to make than the standard uranium dioxide fuel pellets used by NuScale. However, Oklo remains dependent on future government support, Department of Defense contracts, and NRC approvals, which are yet to be finalized.
Oklo's flagship product, the Aurora, generates 1.5 MWe of power, significantly less than NuScale's SMRs, which generate up to 77 megawatts of electricity. Oklo's microreactors can be chained together to generate 15 to 100 MWe, but this still falls short of NuScale's offerings.
Despite its earlier development stage, Oklo trades at a higher price-to-book (P/B) ratio (36.79x vs. NuScale’s 26.30x), reflecting investor optimism about its innovative fuel recycling approach and long-term clean energy potential. However, this is riskier and more speculative.
In 2024, NuScale's revenue rose 62% to $37 million, but its net loss more than doubled to $137 million. Analysts expect NuScale's revenue to rise 34% to $50 million in 2025 as it narrows its net loss to $69 million. In contrast, Oklo is expected to rack up net losses of $66 million in 2025 and $78 million in 2026.
Despite these financial challenges, NuScale's proven technology, regulatory head start, existing revenue, and current engagement with AI data center clients give it a clearer near- to mid-term growth trajectory in the AI and data center energy market. Oklo offers potentially transformative innovation but with longer timelines and higher uncertainty.
[1] Investor's Business Daily [2] Seeking Alpha [3] Forbes [4] Bloomberg
(Note: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research before making investment decisions.)
- In the context of the AI and data center energy market, NuScale's financial growth trajectory is more clearly defined, with revenue projected to rise 34% to $50 million in 2025, as the company generates income from actual deployments and engages with major industries.
- The financial challenges for Oklo in the near term are apparent, with net losses projected for 2025 and 2026, despite potential long-term benefits from its innovative fuel recycling approach and microreactors.
- As NuScale's small modular reactors promise to provide clean power to energy-intensive markets such as AI data centers and hyperscale operations, it is poised for significant growth, making it an attractive investment opportunity in the finance sector, particularly within the energy and technology industries.
